Hello all,
I have read a fair share of saltwater tank information. I'm sure it's not nearly enough as I have some very basic questions and seeking some newby advice.
So here's my story:
I've always had fresh water tanks throughout my life, and like everyone else have always wanted a salt water tank. The opportunity came up to me that a friend of a friend was selling their setup and was just trying to get rid of it. I heed and hawed and talked it over with the wife. She said that she would help with the upkeep and convinced me that I should get it. So here's what we got:
30 gallon tall tank.
Over the side carbon filter.
Over the side skimmer.
Florescent light.
LED light.
Heater.
6 chunks of live rock.
Crushed coral for a substrate.
He gave us all of his gear including some random test kits, refractometer, food, etc.
The livestock he had in the tank were:
Yellow tang.
Valentini puffer.
Two clown fish.
Pomacentrus coelestis (damselfish).
Some type of micro carpet anemone.
I took it not knowing nearly enough about keeping a saltwater tank and am finding out the hard way. He basically told me that with that setup all I would have to do is keep the tank topped off and do a 5 gallon water change every two weeks or so; Keeping the salinity around 1.021-1.026. I did that for a while and everything was decent. Nothing really was a problem. I of course got anxious to add things to the tank. I wanted to get a bubble tip anemone for the clown fish and fell victim to buying a look a like at Petco (Pink-Tipped Anemone). I didn't do any kind of dip or quarantine, I just slowly acclimated the anemone and put it in. This one is quite active and finds it's way around the tank regularly. It has even attacked the carpet from time to time. I did a bit of research and learned that it needs more flow, so I bought a circulation pump to get water movement. It's more or less found a home.
Onward. I bought a emerald crab and a peppermint shrimp. Both eventually disappeared.
The tank broke out in cynobacteria. Which led me to purchase a clean up crew from reefcleaners.org. They definitely helped keep the live rock cleaner. The skimmer would fill up a heck of a lot quicker. Eventually, the fairly large clean up crew become empty shells.
One clown fish died off, then the puffer, now the tang.
I'm not sure where to go from here. I would like to basically learn the proper ways to test and maintain the tank, stabilize it and then transfer it into a 45 gallon bow front tank that I currently have convict cichlids in.
What should I get for testing and how often should I test? Let's start there.
I have read a fair share of saltwater tank information. I'm sure it's not nearly enough as I have some very basic questions and seeking some newby advice.
So here's my story:
I've always had fresh water tanks throughout my life, and like everyone else have always wanted a salt water tank. The opportunity came up to me that a friend of a friend was selling their setup and was just trying to get rid of it. I heed and hawed and talked it over with the wife. She said that she would help with the upkeep and convinced me that I should get it. So here's what we got:
30 gallon tall tank.
Over the side carbon filter.
Over the side skimmer.
Florescent light.
LED light.
Heater.
6 chunks of live rock.
Crushed coral for a substrate.
He gave us all of his gear including some random test kits, refractometer, food, etc.
The livestock he had in the tank were:
Yellow tang.
Valentini puffer.
Two clown fish.
Pomacentrus coelestis (damselfish).
Some type of micro carpet anemone.
I took it not knowing nearly enough about keeping a saltwater tank and am finding out the hard way. He basically told me that with that setup all I would have to do is keep the tank topped off and do a 5 gallon water change every two weeks or so; Keeping the salinity around 1.021-1.026. I did that for a while and everything was decent. Nothing really was a problem. I of course got anxious to add things to the tank. I wanted to get a bubble tip anemone for the clown fish and fell victim to buying a look a like at Petco (Pink-Tipped Anemone). I didn't do any kind of dip or quarantine, I just slowly acclimated the anemone and put it in. This one is quite active and finds it's way around the tank regularly. It has even attacked the carpet from time to time. I did a bit of research and learned that it needs more flow, so I bought a circulation pump to get water movement. It's more or less found a home.
Onward. I bought a emerald crab and a peppermint shrimp. Both eventually disappeared.
The tank broke out in cynobacteria. Which led me to purchase a clean up crew from reefcleaners.org. They definitely helped keep the live rock cleaner. The skimmer would fill up a heck of a lot quicker. Eventually, the fairly large clean up crew become empty shells.
One clown fish died off, then the puffer, now the tang.
I'm not sure where to go from here. I would like to basically learn the proper ways to test and maintain the tank, stabilize it and then transfer it into a 45 gallon bow front tank that I currently have convict cichlids in.
What should I get for testing and how often should I test? Let's start there.
The skimmer you have is a decent skimmer, and should provide the filtration and water clarity you need. Other than that, might think about mixing your water at a set number and don't let salinity rise or fall. Keeping your salinity between 1.024-1.026 is the ideal range for a reef. Any lower and you start having issues. I would shoot for 1.025-1.026.
